[Madeline Michele]

They have all my keys ans the alarm switch.
I really need some help.
What wire that is connected to the starter switch that can be interupted to stop it from starting. Come on folks help me out before they take it again.
I need to know both for an 82 and 83.

Madeline
FTL, FLA

 

[yo2001]

you can unplug the remote wire on the starter. There is two wires on the starter. big positive and small remote wire. Uplug the remote, then the starter won't turn unless you jmp the starter. but I would interrupt the fuel pump. the wires for the fuel pump are under the passenger seat

 

[79-280-ZX]

We know you are under stress but....

the Fla. Junk Yard Queen a.k.a. Z Babe should be thinking of something simple.

How about the Key Pad entry system found on the drivers door of some cars? It would look good mounted near the radio.

It could be hooked up to relays that control main power to the fuel pump, coil, starter or even just one big heavy duty relay controlling the fusible links.

The idea here is that nothing works until you punch in the access code.

Okay, this is not simple, but it would be very effective.

How about using a Debit Card terminal and program it to use one of your cards?

Wayne Monteath
Masham, Quebec.

 

[Unknown User]

You can't stop thieves but you can make it

Very inconveniant for them to take your car. Once they have gotten inside your car they can get under the hood so any kill switch on the starter or coil curcuit can be easily jumped, they are not likely to hang around long enough once the car has stalled to try and figure out why. If you do have an electric fuel pump hide a switch somewhere to manually cut of power to it. Zs are not super high end cars, most people who steal them are joyriders or people who are looking to burn your stereo or other goodies you have installed. Bottom line, if someone wants it bad enough they will take it.

 

[Madeline Michele]

Re: We know you are under stress but....

Does anyone know what wite at the ignition could be switched?
I dont need any lame 90s keypads.
I am someone that has just had my car taken and returned.
I want only a simple switch of sorts at my access in the drivers seat.

Madeline

 

[Madeline Michele]

Re: We know you are under stress but....

Wayne I could use DTMF and reset the reference frequency to some 1 in a million tone.
This would work, or what about voice recognition?
How about I hide a marble in a secret compartment that I insert into a hole so it roles by some big foot that knocks over 10,000 dominos un my back seat then cracking an egg that cooks on my engine and smokes setting off a smoke alarm that is tuned to the same frequency as a audio receiver that triggers a 555 timer to give me a 3 second window to start my car.

I need to keep it simple just one wire from my ignition switch to a switch that can disable the car from people that have my keys. I want a kill switch that connects a wire to the keyed ignition. Do you Wayne know what wire it is or are you just playing around in this post?

 

[escanlon]

Re: We know you are under stress but....

Madeline:

At the risk of inadvertently irking you further, my two cents:

Not being familiar with the 82/ 83, I'll just comment on what I know would / should / could work.

If your intent is to disconect the starter from the circuit, so the car won't start, then you can one of the following:

Get a battery disconnect switch, should be available at your local parts store or check with a store that deals with racing products. See if they have the one with a removeable key. Some of these are a simple Hex Head Key switch, so the removeable key function is simply hoping they don't have the right size allen key.

Connect it at either of two places, either of the wires coming from the battery, or any of the major cables going to the starter. Remember, without the battery having BOTH terminals hooked up to the car....NO CIRCUIT, therefore, no juice and nothing electrical. Note that this method will also stop your clock, and reset any settings that require a trickle charge to be maintained (radio stations, climate control, seat position memories).

Now another method is to do the same, but do it on the wiring harness with the wires that ACTUATE the starter or solenoid, In this way, even if they punch out the ignition lock, the wiring should stop them. If they remove the connector from the ignition lock and jump it, the switch in the wiring harness will stop them. By the way, with this method, the alarm should still be workable, with the other method, probably not unless you wired it completely separate from the wire you disconnect.

The last item I'll recommend is a little more technical.

I'm looking for the article, and once I find the URL, I'll forward it to you.

Basically, this article details how to use a MAGNETIC reed switch to actuate a relay that stays ON as long as the power is in use, but once you shut off the car, the relay defaults to OFF. Without actuating the magnetic switch the relay will not turn on and not allow the car to run. The neat part of this is that you hide the reed switch behind plastic, or whatever you want, but as the article says, in a location such that when you swipe the MAGNET over the switch, it isn't OBVIOUS to someone watching you.

I'll look for and e-mail you the circuit if you want.

For what it's worth

 

[monkeyman]

Re: We know you are under stress but....

I am thinking of doing the same myself. I believe one simple and well proven method is to put a switch in so that when you leave the car and turn the switch on, it connects a terminal of the coil (I think the one marked with a minus sign) to ground (the body of the car). What this does is ensure you cannot develop spark, so the starter will turn over but the car wont start.
Like I said, I think this is almost common, so an experienced thief might see the wire straight away (if he is inclined to get under the bonnet) and cut it or just rip it out.

I like the idea Graham has above about disconnecting the electric fuel pump. Maybe I will do both. You can buy a Dual Pole Dual Throw (DPDT) switch that will do both. One contact will open and disconnect the pump, another separate contact will close and connect the coil to ground.
Good luck

Monkeyman

P.S. I am not 100% sure about which terminal on the coil it is. (If you want I can test it) Any corrections welcome.

 

[Lee Smith]

No body has ansered your ?, and I can't eather, but if you have the ign. exposed so you can see all the wires compair coler code to code of the wire in engin bay to starter.

 

[johnh240]

OK,,,,KISS method....

At the ignition switch connector. black w/ white stripe wire. Go back a few inches into the harness so you have enough wire to work with and cut the black/white wire. Install a spst (single pole single throw switch. This will kill power to the ignition (spark) circuit. You may need to splice on some xtra wire to get the switch hidden up under the dash a bit, or to run the switch to where ever you want to hide it.

 

[Madeline Michele]

Re: OK,,,,KISS method....

Hay John

Would you know if this wire goes hot or cold when engine is on?
Also how many amps would you think is on this wire?
Its good to have a wire color at last.
I'm trying to shy away from having to open the hood every day or do anything crazy to start the car, something easy.
I wish to stay away from the fuel pump because others said I could toast my injectors if forgotten.

Madeline and Kristine
Hollywood, FL

 

[79-280-ZX]

Gee-pers-creepers

Sorry if my feeble attempt to inject some humour into an already somber situation failed.

Do not attempt to ground the negative side of the coil. This connection goes to the Ignition module. You will damage it if the coil goes to ground all the time. You will also be putting 12 volts through the coil when the Ignition is in "Run" / "Start" and the negative side of the coil is grounded. Yes, the car will not start if the "-" of the coil is at ground.

A relay is an ideal thing to use. I like Ford part # FOAB 14B194-DC 1G25 2215 as these relays have their schematic on their side.

Terminal +86 gets +12 and -85 goes to ground. This is the relay control circuit. A simple way to control the relay would be to hook +12 to a magnetic reed switch that is installed in the steering column near the ignition switch. Take the output of the reed switch to +86 of the relay. To activate the relay place a cute looking refrigerator magnet over the reed switch, the magnet could be kept on your keys as a key fob.

The contacts of the relay are terminals 30, 87 and 87a. When the relay is Off 30 and 87a are always connected. This could go to a 555 timer circuit that is connected to your horn. If the magnet is not placed on the reed switch within the pre-selected time the horn goes off making lots of noise.

Terminal 30 and 87 could be hooked in series with the starter solenoid wire. The starter will not engage without the magnet. Although the car would "push start" with the key in the Run position but the horn would go off when the 555 runs out.

You could use two relays, the second one would have terminal 30 and 87 hooked in series with the "+" side of the coil.

Another scenario could be a magnetically controlled relay for the coil / horn and the starter solenoid is controlled by a second relay that is controlled by the hand break. The starter solenoid circuit would only close if the hand break was On. Terminal +86 of the relay would go to the wire for the hand break and -85 would go to the terminal of the hand break. This could also be used to drive a flashing led that would indicate the vehicle has an alarm system.

The relays with a mounting bracket and a wiring harness are being sold in surplus parts stores in Canada for about $6.00. I do not know what Ford product they are off of. I would suspect they are used in electric door locks or power windows circuits. It is very similar to the 1987 Bronco II.

A simple DPDT toggle switch could be used effectively for both these coil / solenoid control circuits.

Disabling the fuel pump is also another option. A DPDT switch in the alternator "L" and oil pressure switch circuit would allow the car to start but when the key was released to the Run position the fuel pump would shut off if the switch was not in the correct position.

You could also use a Fuel Pump # 2 relay from a 79 280 ZX, it is a double pole relay. You would control it with the magnet / reed switch and control the coil and fuel pump.

The last sentence here is another attempt at humour.

There are lots of ways to keep our cars from running. We spend many hours trying to make them run.

Wayne Monteath
Masham, Quebec.

 

[Unknown User]

I don't know what wire it is, all my junk is 240 stuff but it's easy to figure out. If you remove the panel covering the ignition switch you should see the exposed wires on the back. Using a circuit tester or DVM find the wire that is hot when the key is in the start possition. That will give you the wire color code. Then you can trace the wire back to somewhere that you can splice a switch into it and hide it up under the dash. Try to get a wiring diagram if you can. The same thing can be accomplished using the fuel pump or coil.
On a lighter note if you live in florida go to a garage sale and see if you can find one of those stuffed bad ass snakes that you have down there and just leave it on the passenger seat when your not in the car.

 

[GrosPingouin]

Re: We know you are under stress but....

Instead of a lame switch, why not use a reed switch? You can hide it under anything plastic (Ex: the plastic covering the tranny tunnel) since it does not have anything pointing out. Then, all you have to do is to run a magnet over it. If you want to be lazy, you would have to leave the magnet over the switch. If you want to be a bit clever, you can make it such that once the switch is on, car will be on until you turn it off, when system is reset. Then, all you have to do to activate it is to run you conveniently disguised magnet (ex: the rubber duck you leave on the dashboard) over the switch location.

 

[GrosPingouin]

How about...

...instead of going for the ignition switch, simply splice the power to the computer (assuming this is a FI Z)? So, no power to the computer, engine spins but does not do much more besides acting like it is broken. And, who would think to check the fuel management computer harness?

 

[monkeyman]

Re: How about...260Zs

When you say don’t ground the negative of the ignition coil as it will damage the ignition module, then there would be no drawbacks to using this method in a 260Z (no FI or electronic ignition, just carbies and points) would there? I think I still might take this approach on my car… we’ll see, there are some other good ideas popping up.
Thanks
monkeyman

 

[johnh240]

Madeline and monkeyman...

On every year that I have seen from 70-83, either at the coil or at the ignition switch, black/white stripe wire is 'switched ignition' power. In other words when the key is turned to 'on' or to 'start' there is 12v present on that wire. So all you need to do is to install a switch that would in effect open and close that wire. On f/i equipped models it also provides switched ignition power to the f/i relay so (without pouring over schematics) it should also prevent the fuel pump relays from operating. I don't know how many amps it pulls but I doubt if it is much more than 3 to 5 amps. I wouldn't use a mini switch but a standard spst $1.98 style switch from Radio Shack should do the trick. Obviously there are much more elaborate and interesting ways to accomplish this but if you just want a simple 'kill' switch........

 

[240/260Z]

It wounds like Yo2001 has a good idea (disconnect the remote wire on the starter). I have not read all of the above responses to your post, but someone mentioned removing the distributor rotor). I think I am going to begin doing both. If the culprit finds and plugs the remote wire, gets in the car and tries to start it, he is probably not going to have time to keep fumbling around in and out of your car. And, as this same person said, how many are going to walk around with a rotor for a Z. We love Zs, but we do
not do that. Take care of yourself and your Z. Ernest (240/260Z) Las Vegas